


The Princess and the Dog

by tyrannosaurus_rose



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Adventure, Canon Compliant, Crack, E-mail, Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Mischief, Miscommunication, No Romance, Sort-of Siblings, Trolling, Trolling Sephiroth, Yuffie's Mail, Yuffie's only 10 you guys, crazy kids, kids these days
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-12 02:36:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4462136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tyrannosaurus_rose/pseuds/tyrannosaurus_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zack needs a break, and Yuffie needs a partner in crime.  They're a match made in heaven.  Set during May 0001. Friendship/Found Family, NO ROMANCE.  Written for the 2015 FF7 Fanworks Exchange.  Updates Thursdays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kalm

  
**To:** Zack Fair  
**From:** Yuffie  
**Subject:** Don’t Come!  
**Message:**  
I found some really cool treasure in the back of a car, but then it started moving.  I don’t know where we’re going but I’m definitely not being kidnapped, so don’t bother tracking me down.  I’m definitely not, so the treasure’s all mine!  BTW I’m not stuck in the trunk, so there’s really no need to come after me. 

 

It had taken a little effort to actually track Yuffie down this time, since her message hadn’t included any details about her alleged kidnapper’s car.  Zack had no idea what he was really looking for. The mission dispatch had sent him to Kalm, so he figured she must be here somewhere… he hoped. He had no idea how the dispatcher figured out where to send him based on the absurdly terse messages she sent.  If it was based on her location (or the location of the nearest cell tower) when she sent the message, he was screwed – the car would have moved away from that point long before Zack got there.  But if it could somehow track her phone, maybe…

Zack had checked out one of the company cars for this mission, since the ‘treasure’ dispatch sent him out to find based on her information put both Yuffie and the mysterious loot in a moving vehicle.  He was driving carefully through the streets, trying not to attract attention – just in case she really had been kidnapped or something.  But wait, she said she was stuck in the _trunk_ of the car – even if he found the right car, it’s not like he would be able to see her in it, right?  So how was he supposed to –

A car pulled out in front of him.  One of its tail lights had been kicked out, and a leg was still stuck through the hole, kicking frantically.  Zack started laying on the horn.  The street was too narrow for him to try any other, more exciting maneuvers, like jetting around the car and skidding to a stop right in front of it, but eventually the horn – and the passersby in the street, who seemed to have finally understood the situation and started yelling in their own effort to help stop the kidnapping – worked their magic.  The car pulled over, and Zack pulled up next to them, blocking them in (and blocking the street, but pretty much everyone had stopped to see what was going on anyway. Small towns.)  and getting out to talk with the driver.

“Excuse me,” he began politely, and then paused, lost for words.  Yuffie… she said she had found some kind of loot in this person’s car, right?  Was it possible she had been trying to steal from them?  How was Zack supposed to explain that?  “Um… you… you’ve got a tail light out.”

The driver looked at him in disbelief.  “You made me pull over for that?  What are you, city police?”  She eyed Zack’s company car.  It was obviously not a patrol vehicle. 

“Er, actually I’m with SOLDIER,” Zack replied, still not sure what to do.  The woman reacted to that, though: suddenly she sat up straight, looking like she was about to get hit with the book.  Well, SOLDIER did exist to keep the peace… “And you, uh… I’m… performing a citizen’s arrest!  On you!  For, uh… kidnapping!” Zack wasn’t sure if he could perform a citizen’s arrest, since he wasn’t a civilian, but… he was a citizen, so maybe.

“WHAT?!”

Deciding to just roll with it, Zack nodded firmly.  “That’s right! Pop your trunk, please, ma’am!”

“Don’t you need a warrant –”

“Pop your trunk or I’ll wedge it open with my sword,” Zack said firmly, gesturing vaguely to the Buster laid out in the back seat.  It almost didn’t fit inside his luxury car. 

Alarmed, the woman obliged, and Zack heard a thump and a startled yelp from the back of the car. “Please exit your vehicle, ma’am,” Zack instructed.  He wasn’t sure what kind of twist Yuffie might have gotten herself into this time, and thought he might need the driver’s help. 

They walked around the car together, and the woman was aghast to see Yuffie’s leg still caught in the kicked-out taillight.  Zack rapped on the trunk with his knuckles.  “Anybody in there?” 

The driver looked him like he was an idiot and started pushing Yuffie’s leg back into the trunk through the hole, to join the rest of her body.  “Owwww ow ow ow!” came Yuffie’s muffled complaints. When the driver had shoved her all back into the trunk fully, she opened the trunk lid to reveal the stowaway.

“Who the devil are you?” she demanded crossly.  Then, suddenly remembering he was there, she turned to Zack and proclaimed, “I swear to you I’ve never seen this girl before!  I didn’t kidnap her!” 

“Mmhm, we’ll see about that. Miss!  Are you the Yuffie who sent me this message?” Zack demanded, pulling up Yuffie’s distress text on his PHS and showing it to her. 

The driver grabbed his arm and tried to pull the screen in her direction, and nearly tripped when his arm didn’t move.  Righting herself, she warily stepped around him to view the message.  “SOLDIER!  Is this girl in my car a thief?!” 

“Er…”

“How dare you! I happen to be the Treasure Princess!”  Yuffie declared proudly.  Climbing out of the trunk, she fixed the woman with a stern glare.  “How dare you kidnap me in the middle of an operation?!”

“I didn’t kidnap you! You stowed away, you little wretch, just wait ‘til we call your parents – getting SOLDIER involved in something like this, I hope ShinRa lays the fines on thick, you ungrateful little – is that _vomit?!_ ” she screeched as Yuffie climbed out of the trunk. 

Yuffie frowned mulishly, clearly about to retort, so Zack chose that moment to step in. “Excuse me, ma’am. I’m very sorry about the inconvenience. Yuffie didn’t take anything from you, did she?  No? Great.  Please send any repair and cleaning bills for your car straight to me, I’m Zack Fair, SOLDIER Se – First Class. Easy enough to remember, there aren’t too many of us, are there?” he offered her a bright smile that felt completely fake, but she didn’t seem to notice its inauthenticity. “If you’ll excuse us – so sorry to interrupt your day,”  he nodded to her and grabbed Yuffie by the shoulders to guide her into his own car, blithely ignoring the ten-year-old’s protests. 

“Now you just wait one minute, young man!” the woman called after him.  Zack quickly opened the passenger door and shoved Yuffie into the seat, slamming it shut behind her.

“Yes?” 

The woman took a deep breath. “You – you said SOLDIER First Class, didn’t you?” 

“That’s right,” Zack said, finally feeling a little cheerful.  Yeah!  He WAS a First Class now!  That was something to be proud of, even if…

“Could you possibly – I mean, I would hate to impose, but – maybe instead of my car bill, do you think you might get me – that is –”

“Oh ho,” Zack said, suddenly understanding.  “I’ve found a member of the Silver Elite, have I?” 

The woman blushed deeply. “Oh, _no_ ,” she demurred, “nothing so fancy as _that_.  I’m rarely in Midgar, you see, and you have to find a recruiting agent there to gain access – it is a very elite club, after all – no, no, I’m in the open membership portion of Sephiroth’s fan group, General Silver.  But all the same –”

“Of course. I’d be happy to get his autograph for you.  What’s your address?”

She rattled off something local in Kalm, and he quickly made a note of it in his PHS, but then she said, “Actually… if it’s not too much trouble, I mean, an autograph would be lovely, but if you don’t mind… perhaps…”

“Yeeeees?” Zack asked. Sephiroth’s fans were a little weird. 

“A lock of his hair?!” she gushed.  Zack took it back. Sephiroth’s fans were way weird.

“Er, uh – I gotta go, I’m blocking traffic,” Zack said hurriedly. 

“But –”

“I’ll see what I can do about that autograph!” Zack called over his shoulder as he quickly climbed back into his car.  He pulled the door shut and zipped out into traffic, adjusting the rearview mirror to watch the woman wave after him.  “Yikes,” he muttered.

“Don’t be so bummed. You have fans like that, too,” Yuffie told him.  “And what’s the big idea?  I told you I didn’t need any help!  She had some really cool treasure back there and I had to leave it all behind because of you!”

“You can’t steal from people, Yuffie, it’s wrong.  A true princess would know that!  Buckle your seatbelt.”

Caught in the middle of trying to strike a dramatic pose, Yuffie faltered, and obediently reached for the belt.  “I _am_ a real princess,” she mumbled, struggling with the strange contraption.  “And before you start this thing, I should tell you that I –”

“Here,” Zack interrupted, buckling it for her – had she never been in a car before? Really, who was this kid – “All right, I get it.  You can be a princess if you want.”

“I AM a princess!”

“I said ok! So, where would you like to go, Princess?”

Yuffie hmm’d dramatically for a while as she mulled it over, and Zack took the opportunity to try to clear his head.  If that woman stopped to think about what had just happened, Yuffie could be charged with breaking and entering and destruction of private property, not to mention burglary if she had successfully taken something.  And Zack could be brought up for aiding and abetting. Was that really how a SOLDIER First Class should be operating? 

Being a First Class… it was a huge honor, of course, but coming so soon after – how could Angeal just leave like that?  How could Zack have let him?  And – how would he ever know if he’d _really_ made First, or if he’d just been promoted to fill the void left by Angeal and Genesis? It was a lot to consider.

“Here!!” Yuffie shouted. “Stop here!”

Zack slammed on the breaks, surprised.  “What? Why?”

“I wanna stop here! Your Princess commands you!”

Zack pulled over and looked around.  Yuffie had found… a diner?  “What is this place?”

“Lunch!”  Yuffie replied cheerfully.  “On you, of course.  Since my daily income was unexpectedly waylaid,” she glared at him sternly.  “You better not start making a habit out of that, Mister.  We’re supposed to be allies, remember?  That means what I say goes.  Now, I say it’s lunch time!  C’mon!  If I don’t eat, I won’t have anything to throw up later if I get carsick again.” Zack chose to ignore that in favor of finding parking.  He was getting kind of hungry, too. 

The diner was bustling, which they both took as a sign of good food to come.  Several locals stopped to stare at them as they came in, and Zack guessed they did make rather an odd pair: a strapping but unarmed SOLDIER and a tiny but energetic Wutai girl.  Their waitress didn’t give them any trouble, though -- until Yuffie tried to order half the menu.  

“There’s no way you can eat that much, hon,” the waitress tried to reason with her.  She cast a pleading glance in Zack’s direction.  “Surely you’re not going to let her just eat whatever she wants like this!”  

“It’s fine,” Zack said, shrugging.  The prices were very reasonable, and he wasn’t exactly a big spender.  He could pay for one exorbitant feast.  “I’ll eat anything she doesn’t finish.  Go ahead and put the order in.”  

“On the double!” Yuffie added.  

“Be polite,” Zack scolded, kicking her gently under the table.  She responded with a loud lecture on his duties as her ally, telling him exactly what she thought of his disrespect.  Zack sighed.  “I’m paying for your lunch, aren’t I?  So how about showing me some of that respect?”  He didn’t really want to talk about this anymore.  Respect and honor and lectures made him think about Angeal.  

Yuffie looked at him curiously.  “Are you ok?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I dunno.  You’re usually different.  Sure you’re not an imposter?  Nar har har!”  

“Uhh... I’m not entirely sure what you’re talking about, but I’m the same Zack I’ve always been.”

“But you --”

“Order up!” Their waitress had pulled a couple of other servers to help her ferry their massive order to their table.  It didn’t all fit, even when they pulled another table up to double the surface area.  The wait staff looked unsure how to proceed.  

“Don’t worry about it,” Zack said cheerfully, “Here, give me that one, and then you can put that there,” he nudged a couple of plates until they were overlapping, but managed to make some more room on the table, “and we’ll be all set.  Thanks for everything!”

Yuffie had already started digging in.  She was a noisy eater, and Zack found himself relaxed by her obvious enthusiasm.  It was nice that she could be so focused on something so simple, and so happy, after such a weird morning.  

They had polished off half of it and were still going strong when they were interrupted.  “Excuse me,” an older man said, coming up to their table.  

Yuffie continued stuffing her face, uninterested, but Zack looked up.  “Yes?”

“I was just passing by, and I couldn’t help but notice...”

“Ah, yeah,” Zack laughed, “we worked up quite an appetite today.”

“Well, it’s good for young people to eat well,” the old man said, smiling.  “But that’s not why I stopped by.  That book you have there...”

“Oh, this?” Zack gestured to a guide he had brought in from the car.  Who knew what crazy ideas Yuffie would come up with for the rest of their day, right?  It was better to be prepared.  

“Is that, by chance... a guidebook?” the old man asked curiously.  

“Uh, yeah?”  They weren’t exactly standard issue, but a SOLDIER First could fairly easily get his hands on one if he thought ahead.  

“Would you by chance be interested in trading it?”  

“For what?” Yuffie asked, mouth full.  

“Well, I have this underwater materia...” he offered.

“Materia?!  We’ll take it!”  Yuffie said, beaming.  

“Now hold on,” Zack said.  “That’s my guidebook you’re trading away, Princess.”

“What do you need a guidebook for, anyway?  I’ve never heard of the underwater materia, think how cool it could be!  It could help you drown your enemies!  How often do you get water elemental materia, anyway?  C’moooon, it’ll be great!  Trade it!”

“Well...”

“Please, sir.  I think we’ve gone about this all wrong; I haven’t even introduced myself.  I am the Kalm Traveler, and a guidebook of such quality would be a great boon to me on my wanderings.  What is your name?”  

“I’m Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class.  I’m happy to to give you my guidebook if it means so much to you -- there’s no need for you to give me your materia.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly accept.  A fair trade is one thing, but I have no need of your charity, although I appreciate your goodwill, sir.”  

“Well...”

“Great!” Yuffie chimed in.  “You can give him the guidebook and I’ll take the materia.  You get to do your charity, he gets a fair trade, and I get a shiny new toy to play with!  Everybody wins!”  

Zack gave Yuffie an arch look, but capitulated.  “All right, fine,” he laughed.  “Sounds like we’ve got a trade.”  

The Kalm Traveler chatted with them a while longer, about the friends he had all over the world and his travels to visit them.  Soon enough, though, some of the friends who had come with him to the diner called him back to their table, and Zack and Yuffie were once again left to attack the mountain of food in front of them. 

Zack finished first, and watched with some interest as Yuffie continued to plow through the last of her lunch.  Did anyone ever feed this kid?  She could put away almost as much as he did!  “Still hungry?” he asked as she pulled a plate with some leftover fries into easier reach.  “I can order more.”  

“Nah, I’m just a completionist.  Are you sure you got enough, though?”  

“I’m good to go, thanks,” he smiled.  It had been a while since he had pigged out like this, and although he had become almost uncomfortably full, it was worth it for the content and satiated feelings that accompanied large quantities of good food consumed in good company.  Maybe he and Yuffie would go out to lunch together more often.  “So, is there anything else on your agenda, Princess?”  

“In a rush to get away?” she asked slyly.  

“Just trying not to cramp your style,” he replied easily.  

“Well, you’re welcome to continue chauffeuring me around Kalm, but we’ve basically seen all of it by now.  And speaking of, how did you find me so quickly?”

“Well, the leg hanging out the back of the car was a dead giveaway.”  

“Yeah, but how did you find the car I was in to begin with?  You always find me right away when I get into a mess.  Do you have some kind of superpower that helps you locate people?  Oh, I know -- a super strong sense of smell, like a dog!  You sniffed me out, is that it?”  

Damn.  He had been doing an okay job of not thinking about Angeal for most of the day, but it seemed like every time he turned around someone brought something up that reminded him all over again.  A dog like sense of smell, huh?  Sounded like his puppy side had gained another attribute.  

“Hey, seriously, are  you ok?” Yuffie asked.  “You keep getting that sad face, like you’re remembering something really bad.  You wanna talk about it?”

“That’s really nice of you, Princess,” Zack said, smiling and feeling genuinely touched by her concern, “but I’m good.  Thank you, though.”

“You know you have to talk about bad things to get rid of them,” Yuffie said sagely.  “If you don’t say anything, they just build up inside you and rot and fester until they’ve poisoned every bit of you.”

Zack laughed.  “I think so too.  But I already talked to someone, I promise.  I guess I’m just still getting used to the change.”

“Oh,” Yuffie nodded solemnly.  “Yeah.  Changes like that can be really hard to wrap your brain around.”  

“What happened to the bossy and bubbly Treasure Princess I know and love?  I’m beginning to wonder if you’re the imposter,” Zack teased.  

“Excuse you, I’m allowed to have an emotional spectrum.  It’s very important for a princess to have both sympathy and empathy for the people she talks to, you know!”  

“Those are pretty big words for a kid.  You must really be a princess after all, to have such a big vocabulary.”  

“I told you, I AM a princess!  Ugh, why do I even bother?”  Zack grinned at her.  Talking to Yuffie was nice.  It kind of felt like having a kid sister.  “You know,” Yuffie went on, adopting a sly tone, “there is another way to deal with change.  Aside from talking about it, I mean.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”  

Yuffie grinned mischievously. “You could always run away.”  

 


	2. Junon Forests

  
To: Sephiroth  
From: Anonymous  
Subject: FYI  
Message:  
I can’t tell you my name, but I know something of interest to you.  SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair, who has recently gone missing, was in fact kidnapped! There’s been no ransom demand yet, but if you attack the kidnapper now, Zack’s dead for sure! Better keep your nose out of it.

 

“Where _are_ we?” Yuffie asked, turning in a slow circle, wide eyes cataloguing the endless trees.

“Pretty near Junon, actually.  I’m surprised you’ve never been here.” The forests were a great place to camp, and Zack knew Yuffie liked being outdoors.  When they had decided to run away together, this place immediately came to mind: close enough to Midgar that he could quickly get back to work if he was needed, but far enough away that he wouldn’t be thinking about it all the time and that he and Yuffie could feel like they were on an adventure. 

“Do you come here a lot?” Yuffie asked curiously.

“I used to, on training missions with… uh. Some of the other SOLDIERs,” Zack shrugged awkwardly.  It was becoming apparent there wasn’t a place on the planet he could go to escape his memories of Angeal, so he would just have to learn to live with them. Luckily Yuffie was plenty distracting. 

She was offering him a blank stare, and when Zack lifted an eyebrow in invitation, she said, “So, if you’re done being all nostalgic…?”

“I’m trying to share something cool with you!”

“Well I’m tired and hungry and I wanna find a place to sleep tonight!  Isn’t it getting a little late for a nature hike?!”

“How can you be hungry after all that food we ate for lunch?” Zack asked, genuinely mystified. 

“In case you forgot, we just ran here! From Kalm!  And I may be fast but I have skinny legs and I get tired! Of course I’m hungry!”

Zack pouted.  “I drove most of the way, but you had that look on your face like you were gonna blow chunks.  And then as soon as we got out of the car _you_ decided it was a race!”

“Because running is more fun when it’s racing, duh. We could race again if it means getting me to food and a nice bed faster!  At least tell me where we’re _going!_ ” her words trailed off into a loud whine.  Zack just laughed. 

“We’re not going anywhere, Princess. I’m happy to say you can go to bed anytime you’re ready.” 

Yuffie looked around at the woods as if a house was suddenly going to appear out of thin air, and finally turned back to Zack in defeat.  “I don’t get it,” she admitted, looking wary. 

“We’re camping?” Zack was trying to stay chipper – it was their first night on the run together, after all, and so far spending the day with Yuffie had been pretty fun.  But Yuffie was suddenly acting like Zack had grown a second head, and his confidence was faltering.  She spent so much time outside… surely this was a kid who loved to camp, if ever there was one? 

Yuffie met his revelation with a blank stare. “Camping?  As in… sleeping in a tent and eating food off of sticks, camping?” 

“Well, it’s a nice night, so I was sort of thinking we could just sleep under the stars… but I do have a tent if you want to use it. Standard issue. But yeah!  You can go collect some firewood if you want. If you’re really still hungry I’m sure I can scrounge something up.”

“‘Scrounge’? Collect firewood?  Sleep under the stars?!”  Zack took a step back.  Yuffie’s voice was getting kind of shrill, and he realized suddenly that she wasn’t quite as thrilled about camping out as he was. “What if there are bugs out here?!” she shrieked.  “Or MONSTERS?!?”

“Chill,” Zack said, trying for an easygoing laugh. It came out a little awkward, but he soldiered on.  “A good fire will keep most of those away.  And I’m pretty good with…” monsters, he had been about to say. He meant the kind he ran into wandering around less populated places, the kind that occasionally stirred up trouble in the slums.  As soon as he started to say it, though… maybe he wasn’t so good with monsters, after all.

“Are – are you _scared?_ You can’t be scared! _I’m_ scared!”

“Calm down!  I’m not scared, I just lost my train of thought.  Sheesh.  Nothing’s gonna bother us around here, so what’s the big deal?”

“I *sniff* don’t want *sniff* to go camping! Waaaaaaah!”  Yuffie shouted, suddenly bursting into tears. She took off running through the woods without a backward glance, and in moments she was out of sight. 

“Are you kidding?!  Why are you crying again??  YUFFIE!  COME BACK!!” Zack yelled, jogging after her. “Seriously, what is this girl’s problem?!” he muttered to himself as he ran. 

Yuffie’s path was circuitous, winding and dodging around trees and through the brush, backtracking and zig-zagging all over the place.  Zack wasn’t too worried about finding her – he always did – or about her safety – she always pulled through somehow, and had wandered into far more dangerous places than this – but it was getting dark, and if he didn’t find her quickly, it would probably just make her feel even more frightened and alone. 

Eventually he caught up to her, and he slowed as he neared, not wanting to spook the girl.  She was still sniffling, and sat crouched between several large roots of a beautiful old tree, clutching something to her chest. 

“Yuffie?” Zack asked tentatively, not wanting to startle her. 

She turned to look at him, and Zack saw several difficult emotions struggling in her gaze.  “You do things very differently than me,” she accused.

Zack sighed.  “I’m sorry.”  He wasn’t sure exactly what he had done wrong, but he had clearly upset her, and he would do his best to make it up.  Yuffie had been the one to suggest he run away from his troubles, and even though he hadn’t quite escaped them yet he was still grateful.  She had given him something to _do_ , when it seemed like the only thing anyone expected was that he sit around and mope.  Maybe now he would get a chance to help Yuffie… maybe this trip could be good for both of them.

“Can I sit?” Zack asked, setting the Buster aside and slinging himself into the little hollow between the roots without waiting for her answer.  It was a tight fit, and instinct told Zack to wrap an arm around Yuffie and tuck her up against his side, but he wasn’t sure how ok she might be with that much contact, so he settled for bumping shoulders with her gently. 

Yuffie curled up a little tighter to create a space between them, and Zack tried not to let his disappointment or uncertainty show. He had clearly messed up, and that meant it was his responsibility to fix it.  Glancing down at his young friend, he noticed again that she was holding something close, curled up around it.  He couldn’t really see it, but… was it white? “Is that… a kupo mog?” he asked, a little baffled. 

Yuffie quickly twisted away, trying to hide it, and looked back over her shoulder to glare at him.  “I’m not a little kid!” she said sternly. 

“Of course not,” Zack quickly agreed, raising a hand in a placating gesture. 

Appeased, Yuffie uncurled a little, opening up towards him again, revealing a little plush moogle.  It was getting a little dirty, but the white fabric still shone in the growing gloom.  “I told you, there was treasure in that lady’s car.”

“You took that from her car?”

“She was going to throw it away!” Yuffie said hotly. “Like trash!  This isn’t trash!”

“I hear you, but that doesn’t mean you can just take it,” Zack said, frowning.  “I mean, it’s one thing to steal from ShinRa… not that I condone it, but they can at least afford the expense.  I’m sure people steal from them all the time.  But that lady was just a civilian.  She had nothing to do with ShinRa!”

“She didn’t _want_ it,” Yuffie argued.  “She didn’t even notice it was missing when you rescued me!” 

“When our trip is over, I want you to write a letter of apology to her,” Zack said, standing firmly on moral high ground. “I got her address, so I’ll help you send it.” 

Yuffie grumbled a little, but capitulated. They sat together in silence for a while as Zack tried to come up with something else to say. He didn’t want to act like Yuffie’s dad – because he wasn’t, and because it was obvious Yuffie could take care of herself, and because he really respected her and wanted to treat her like an adult. They were supposed to be allies on an adventure together, and he felt really bad about chastising her. But then again… she _was_ a kid, right?

“So, uh… does he have a name?” Zack asked awkwardly. “Your mog?”

Yuffie glared at him.  “Who says it’s not a she?” she challenged.

Zack backpedaled, “Oh, sorry!  Does, uh, does _she_ have a name?”

Yuffie rolled her eyes.  “This is _obviously_ a boy mog,” she sniffed, nose in the air.  Zack was flabbergasted and a little annoyed, but then he caught her glancing sidelong at him as if trying to gauge his reaction. So she was just baiting him, then.

“As I thought from the beginning,” Zack said, nodding seriously, “he’s very handsome.” 

Yuffie seemed a little surprised – that he hadn’t gotten mad? That he was playing along? Zack couldn’t say for sure – but she seemed to readily accept his words as genuine, and soon relaxed against him, tilting her head to lean against his shoulder.  Again, Zack felt the urge to wrap a protective arm around her, and held back. 

“Are we really camping?” Yuffie mumbled after several minutes of comfortable silence had elapsed. 

“Unless you have an alternative in mind,” Zack said calmly.  He wasn’t feeling quite so overwhelmed by her obvious disapproval of his plan anymore. If she had somehow managed to never go camping before, fine – he had never run away from work before! They could try new things together.  And Zack was still pretty sure Yuffie would enjoy camping, if she gave it a chance. “What do you usually do, when you’re out and about?”

“There are always locals who’re happy to put me up for the night,” Yuffie replied, matter-of-fact. 

Well, that wasn’t particularly surprising: Zack had been treated to the kindness of many such strangers when he journeyed from Gongaga to Midgar years ago. Any resourceful kid would know how to find them.  There were always people around who were happy to share a meal and a cot, especially if you could pay them back with some manual labor around the farm.  Yuffie had that scrawny look, but with her Dash materia she could probably make herself useful.  

“Wow, an annoying little brat like you?” Zack asked, just to mess with her.  “I’m surprised anyone would let someone like you into their house.” 

“Excuse me?!  I _am_ a princess, in case you forgot! The common people are _honored_ to have me in their homes!”

“Oh, the common people, riiight.  Do you call them peons to their face, Princess?”

Yuffie elbowed him in the side.  “A person of elevated upbringing such as myself would _never_ be so crass as to make the difference in social station obvious, especially not to a person offering charity!” 

“You’re a princess in such a pitiable state as to require the charity of peons?”

Yuffie tensed, and for a second Zack thought she was going to elbow him again – he did deserve it – but no assault came, and Zack realized Yuffie was really upset.  Zack suddenly remembered some of the things Yuffie had gone through. He didn’t know much about her, but she was from Wutai, right?  He had first met her in Fort Tamblin, after all.  For the first time, Zack wondered how many of the people he killed there were friends or family of Yuffie’s. 

“Yuffie, I’m sorry,” Zack offered, not sure what to do and fearing another sob session.  He didn’t really have much experience calming crying girls.

But to his surprise, Yuffie responded by rolling her eyes and punching him in the shoulder before getting up and dusting herself off.  “It’s already pretty dark out,” she said, looking around.  “We better find a nice spot to spend the night. And don’t forget you promised to scrounge up my dinner!” 

“Huh?  Er, yeah, ok.” 

Zack let Yuffie lead the way, grabbing the Buster as they walked by it.  Yuffie stomped through the woods until she found a clearing she deemed suitable. Demanding that Zack set up his tent ‘for privacy,’ she wandered off to collect firewood.  She returned before Zack started to get nervous, arms loaded down, and after arranging a neat fire pit, Zack solved the flint and tinder situation with a well-aimed Fire. 

To Yuffie’s surprise and delight, Zack provided a selection of prepared military rations for her to choose from for dinner. When she told him she had been expecting him to hunt something, he laughed, but quickly offered to oblige. He had hunted and fished in Gongaga, of course, and had no doubt whatever she ate in Wutai had to come at least partially from what the land provided.  Yuffie turned him down, but nearly changed her mind when she tasted the MRE. 

“Euucchhh! What do they put in these things??”

Zack frowned.  “If you don’t like it, give it back,” he said grumpily. “I gave you that one because it’s _my_ favorite, but if you don’t like Gongagan food…”

“Why would I like Gongagan food?  Why do _you_ like Gongagan food?”

“I dunno, you like what you grew up with, right? My buddy Kunsel likes the MRE options with potatoes instead of rice best, but Sephiroth likes them all. I don’t think he ate much real food as a kid.” 

Yuffie’s expression darkened.  “I _hate_ Sephiroth.” 

  Well, that was understandable.  Zack knew from time spent in the slums that not everyone loved ShinRa, and Yuffie had made it very clear that she didn’t approve of the hostile takeover of her home, but Zack hadn’t really put the pieces together before.  To him, Sephiroth was a combination of idol and friend, the last guy left at work who had been close with Angeal, who remembered him fondly, who knew what Zack had gone through in the end. He knew that Sephiroth had similar feelings about him – Zack was all that remained of Sephiroth’s best friends. 

But Yuffie had good reasons not to like him (even though Zack was privately sure they’d never actually met), so he made a mental note to avoid bringing the man up in conversation in the future.

“Do you hate this MRE?  Here, try it,” Zack said, swiftly switching their plates and changing the subject in one suave move.  Yuffie poked at the rubbery pasta and glared at him, but Zack was already digging into the terrible approximation of a Gongagan staple, so she was stuck with it.

She nibbled a little, as if trying to subtly tell him she was not impressed with his cooking but too polite to complain further, but quickly gave up in favor of scarfing the food down. 

Zack set his empty MRE container aside and laid back on the ground, lacing his fingers behind his head as he gazed up at the sky. The stars appeared to glitter, so far removed from the troubles of this little planet.  You couldn’t see them in Midgar, through all the black gunk in the air, but Zack had always loved watching them in Gongaga. Although the angle changed, he liked that they were basically the same no matter where he went – sometimes it seemed like few things had that kind of staying power.  Angeal was gone, Genesis was gone, Yuffie was some child he hardly knew, from a conquered nation, running all over the place with no concern.  Did she even have parents anymore?  If she didn’t, wasn’t it surely because of ShinRa, maybe even because of Zack’s personal involvement in their efforts in Wutai?  Did Yuffie hate him as much as she hated Sephiroth?  Did she even remember him from Fort Tamblin?  After all this time, she had never shown any sign of recognizing him…

Zack blinked, and the moment of introspection was gone. He was here, now, trying to have fun and make something of his life.  That was what mattered to him. 

Yuffie stretched a leg out to nudge him with her foot. “Hey.  You just gonna fall asleep right there?”

“Yeah,” Zack replied.  “It’s comfortable enough.  I set the tent up for you like you asked, though,” he added, somewhat unnecessarily: the white fabric of the tent stood out even in the meager light of the stars.  It didn’t look white, of course, but it was an obviously tent-shaped object, and even unenhanced eyes would be able to see it. 

“Is it… ok if I stay out here?” 

“Of course,” Zack said, already beginning to doze off. It had been a long day. “Isn’t that what camping is?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Yuffie said lightly.

“Well take notes, because I want to hear what you think in the morning,” Zack said, trying to sound commanding and sure he was mumbling. 

“So far, so good,” Yuffie murmured. Zack was already asleep.

The next morning, Yuffie woke up and glanced around to find Zack performing a repetitive squatting motion off on the edge of camp. She offered him a confused glare from under the most impressive case of bed head he’d ever seen in his life (and with his own hedgehog head, that was saying something).  “What are you doing?” she grumbled, voice thick with sleep. 

“Squatting,” he answered cheerfully, a little out of breath.  “It’s good to,” huff, “start your morning,” puff, “with exercise.  Gets the,” huff, “blood flowing.” 

“You look like a little kid trying to convince a turd to come out,” she replied grouchily.  “Cut it out.”

“As my princess commands.  Did you sleep well?  I’ve got breakfast ready!” 

Yuffie glared at the arrangement of MREs waiting to be heated.  “I don’t like breakfast.” 

“No wonder you’re so hungry by lunch time. Well, we’ll kick that habit. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” 

“Zack,” Yuffie asked, eyes narrowing, “are you… a morning person?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew... sorry this one was a little less fun and adorable than the last chapter, but keep in mind these two are both still very young and they've been through some rough business. Also they don't really know each other that well yet. Relationships take time to develop! Hopefully they'll have more fun next time.


	3. ShinRa Tower

  
**To:** Sephiroth  
**From:** Zack  
**Subject:** PTO  
**Message:**  
I’ve been feeling pretty down lately (you know why) so I’m going on vacation with a friend. We haven’t decided where we’re going yet but I’ll keep you informed. Could you let Lazard and Kunsel and everybody know for me? Thanks.  
  
Oh yeah in case anybody asks I got into a bit of a kerfuffle in Kalm and ended up promising some lady your autograph. I know it’s a pain but at least she’s not pressing charges right? Actually if you could include some of your hair that’d be super. I’ll text you her address. You’re the best, man!  


 

Sephiroth flipped back and forth between the two texts, not sure if he should be more confused or alarmed. The first read like spam, and the anonymous sender didn’t help make it more likely to be authentic, but the content was distressing. Zack, kidnapped? Who could have the power to kidnap a SOLDIER 1st? Was it a message from that eco-terrorist group he had been hearing about? There were strange reports of SOLDIER going missing, but with everything that had just happened with Genesis, it was hard to say one way or another what was really happening. Had Zack run afoul of them? Was he in danger?

The second message sounded just like Zack, and although the message itself was somewhat bizarre, it certainly sounded like the kid had gotten into one of his usual messes and was mostly fine. Sephiroth couldn’t fault Zack for wanting to get away from the tower: memories of Angeal and Genesis were everywhere for Sephiroth. He could only imagine what Zack must be going through. A vacation was well in order – sometimes Sephiroth even felt like taking one himself, though of course the President would never allow it. 

So which message was real? How could Sephiroth tell what to believe, and what to disregard? If Zack was just taking a vacation and someone had happened to prank him right at that moment, Sephiroth suddenly showing up to defend him would only make Zack feel like no one trusted him enough to deal with his grief in a healthy way. (Then again, Sephiroth thought, Zack’s recent gloom had thrown everyone into a panic, trying to figure out what could be done to bring the puppy back. People were bending over backwards trying to bring a smile back to his face, Sephiroth included. Maybe that was why Zack thought it was ok to suddenly take an unspecified amount of time off with no advance notice.) If Zack’s message was real, it would surely be better to let him have his space. Maybe this mysterious friend could cheer him up better than anyone at ShinRa. 

On the other hand, if the kidnapper’s message was real, Zack could be in real danger. It was entirely possible the kidnapper had forced Zack to write to Sephiroth requesting time off, as a way to keep ShinRa off their trail, but that idea just had a few too many holes. For example, why send two messages if one is meant to reassure? The kidnapper hadn’t issued a ransom demand, so they could just as easily have said nothing and Sephiroth wouldn’t think twice about Zack suddenly taking off.

Plus, why let Zack include that bit about Kalm if he had been forced to write the message? The information was far from relevant in a kidnapping, unless the lady who wanted Sephiroth’s hair and autograph was the kidnapper, and the ‘kerfuffle’ Zack wrote of was a lot worse than he made it sound. Well, he had written that she almost pressed charges. 

Honestly, no matter which way he looked at it, Sephiroth had no idea what to think. But he was more of an action man, anyway, and he knew what to do. Missions were always monitored, even if just through the GPS in an operative’s PHS. And all of that data was kept by ShinRa’s Department of Administrative Research. Sephiroth wasn’t a huge fan of the Turks, but he knew Zack was friends with a few – surely for him, they would help out, right?

Locating the Turks offices wasn’t a problem for Sephiroth, although he was given to understand few people working with the company would have any idea how to go about finding them if charged with such a task. Because of his SOLDIER responsibilities, Sephiroth had several times worked closely with the Turks, and while he didn’t always like everything about them, he certainly trusted them at minimum to pull their weight where the company was concerned. Losing Zack would be a problem for everyone.

Sephiroth tried not to feel jealous as he wandered through the Department of Administrative research. He knew that Turk operatives had living quarters somewhere in the building, and he could probably find out where if he was interested, but their workplace looked more like an extended living room than an office. There were a few tables scattered around, the largest suited for eight people, the smallest best for just two, but most of the seating was in grouped couches and plush chairs. It was obviously a space the Turks used to relax, a place where they felt at home. By contrast, the SOLDIER floor looked so sterile people were beginning to take bets on when Zack would sneak in to paint it in the middle of the night.

Even with the open layout of the floor, the higher ups did still have offices, discreetly nestled against an outer wall. Only two of them were in use. Sephiroth ignored Veld’s office – the head of Turk might have better access to information, but his second, Tseng, was more likely to help. From what Sephiroth understood, Tseng had worked with Zack on a few missions now, and the two were sort of close. Sephiroth wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about that, but Zack did tend to befriend everyone he met, and it wasn’t like Sephiroth himself knew Zack that well. Who was he to say who the boy could be friends with?

And yet, these two emails… maybe someone _should_ be helping Zack decide who to befriend. Or maybe they should just assign someone to filter through all the people who had contact with Zack in the first place? That might be more efficient. Sephiroth decided to think on it further and bring it up with Lazard later if he decided the idea had merit.

Sephiroth entered Tseng’s office without knocking, and the Turk second-in-command didn’t even look up to greet him. “What do you want?” Tseng had a talent for terse efficiency that Sephiroth had always admired.

“Zack might be missing and I need to know one way or the other. Any information you can give me at this time would be… appreciated.”

At that, Tseng did look up, and considered Sephiroth carefully. “ _Might_ be missing?”

“I have received two contradictory emails, one from Zack and clearly intended to reassure, and the other from an anonymous sender, claiming that a kidnapping has occurred. I am… not sure which to believe.”

Tseng’s brow didn’t crease, but he stared at Sephiroth with an intensity that indicated at least interest, and hopefully concern. Sephiroth wasn’t good enough at reading people to distinguish among Tseng’s emotions, if he had them. Turks were notoriously poker-faced, anyway.

“Show me.”

Sephiroth had anticipated that request, so he didn’t bristle or balk at the Turk’s brusque command. Mutely handing over his PHS, the SOLDIER waited patiently as Tseng quickly looked over the two messages.

Setting down the PHS, Tseng turned to his computer and keyed in a few commands. “He’s here,” Tseng said, turning the screen to be visible to them both, “near Junon. Out in the middle of nowhere.”

“SOLDIER uses those forests for training exercises sometimes,” Sephiroth pointed out, although he was fairly certain Tseng already knew.

“The question is, what is he doing there _now_?” a young female Turk with bouncy russet curls asked, walking in. “Sorry to interrupt. I heard Zack’s name, and couldn’t help but listen in.”

Sephiroth considered telling her to leave, but decided that if a Turk wanted to know something, she probably had more tricks at her disposal to get at the information than Sephiroth had to hide it, and he made it a point not to fight losing battles. “There aren’t any training missions currently scheduled in the area, but maybe he’s cleaning the monsters out or something? He gets requests like that sometimes,” Sephiroth offered. It didn’t really make sense, because if Zack was there for a work-related reason he wouldn’t be missing, he would be on assignment.

“It’s more likely that he went haring off on a treasure hunt,” Tseng said. He had been busily typing away since before the redhead showed up, and called their attention back to the screen, which was displaying a series of messages from an anonymous sender. “About a month ago, this message was sent out to a number of SOLDIER operatives. Everyone ignored it except for Zack, who proceeded to pursue a number of highly suspicious missions, each preceded by another of the messages you see here.”

Sephiroth did an excellent job of not reacting to the revelation that Turk had access to all of SOLDIER phone records. True, they were company phones, and SOLDIER signed their lives away to Shinra, but wasn’t this a bit excessive?  

“Oooh, the Treasure Princess emails,” the woman said. “I had forgotten about those.”

“Records show that Zack’s last mission, which took place in Kalm, was in response to another one of these messages. It’s possible that, from there, he and the mysterious Treasure Princess went on together to the next site she identified.”

“The mysterious Treasure Princess?” Sephiroth asked. He was feeling left out of the loop. Was this some ridiculous inside joke among Turk, or was this really a person?

“We don’t know much about her,” the redhead replied.

“And yet you’re perfectly comfortable sending Zack on mission after mission with this person,” Sephiroth deadpanned. How could they be so lax about security?! He had thought Tseng, at least, liked Zack, and it seemed like this woman Turk did too – but how could that be true, when they were sending him into danger time and time again? Missions were handed out by Lazard, but Turk provided the necessary background intelligence. They had to know _something_ about this person.

“We know she’s not working with the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE,” Tseng said. “They’re the only known potential threat to solo SOLDIER operatives. Zack is a First. How much trouble could he get into?”

Sephiroth glared. The answer to that was, unfortunately, a lot more than anyone ever managed to anticipate. When it came to Zack, anything really was possible.

“It sounds like you’re saying you don’t know enough about this… Treasure Princess…” God the name got worse every time he said it, “to determine if she is a threat to SOLDIER on the level of AVALANCHE or not.”

Tseng stared calmly back in the face of Sephiroth’s obvious ire. “It may be worth noting that Zack has gone on at least six missions with this person and returned unharmed every time.”

“I find it hard to believe you of all people could be ignoring the possibility of the tactical advantage one gains by luring their enemy close under the guise of harmlessness,” Sephiroth replied, aware he sounded condescending but not particularly caring. Zack could be in grave danger. “You really have no other information on this person?”

“No, we also know she’s prone to manipulative bouts of crying,” the redhead chimed in, apparently scrolling through some data on her PHS. “And there’s a note here that she’s suspected of being from Wutai. Although there’s no hard evidence of that."

Sephiroth glared at her, then turned his ferocious stare back on Tseng, silently demanding answers. 

Tseng sighed. “We’ll look into it,” he promised.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh it's been so long. Sorry! Two years later, I swear I haven't forgotten this fic at all. Next chapter is in the works and will be back to Zack and Yuffie!
> 
> Ah, the other text Sephiroth is looking at is the one he got from Yuffie last chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I didn't finish in time, but I'll keep at it. The whole story is planned out already, I just have to write it, I promise. Consider it the gift that keeps on giving!


End file.
